This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist
Chapter 677 - 677: 677: Divine Game – Chaotic Blocks 68

12:30

With [Owl Got Lost] finally off cooldown, Rita immediately shifted the cooldown of [There's a Cat Here].

To her disappointment, she couldn't transfer it back onto the same SSS-level skill that had previously absorbed the cooldown from [Mysterious Power].

In other words, each time she used [Owl Got Lost], the cooldown could only be shifted to a new skill—cooldowns didn't stack, and there was likely a hard limit preventing repeat use on the same ability.

Still, even if she'd hit a mechanical wall, Rita wasn't out of options.

Every hour, she could cycle through unlocking [Mysterious Power] and [There's a Cat Here].

She'd picked up 42 SSS-level skills in Chaotic Restaurant. Even with 11 locked in for regular use, that left 31 others she could funnel cooldowns into.

Besides, [There's a Cat Here] only had a two-hour cooldown. With enough SSS-level skills, she could keep the rotation going indefinitely.

So for now, Rita's biggest threat—death—was no longer hanging over her head.

But the problem remained: she still couldn't exit the maze through normal gameplay.

She even began to suspect Verdant Whisper · Windrush was stuck too.

Rita had tried dropping an Attribute Block during a skirmish, hoping [The Free Stuff Always Costs the Most.] would kick in and get her a map fragment in return.

But the weighing room only generated items that players had actively used. Since map fragments weren't considered "used" until a full set was collected, they wouldn't show up.

She also considered trying to "upgrade by trading down"—drop a three-piece set fragment in exchange for a five-piece, pay some gold, and then work her way up to a nine-piece.

But this carried huge risk. If any of her game fragments ended up in Verdant Whisper · Windrush's hands, the exposure could jeopardize her entire operation.

As long as "Asset Transfer" was active, she wouldn't attempt any such trades.

And so, the game reached a deadlock.

She couldn't die.

She couldn't leave.

And she refused to skip class.

Sure, she'd cheesed plenty of events back in BS by looking up guides, but the gods didn't appreciate players outright avoiding gameplay.

Screwing around? Fine. Disrupting the system? Also fine.

But cutting class? Not unless there was no other option.

More importantly, if she didn't finish the maze game, would the other events even let her purchase entry?

If she tried and got rejected, stuck in the anti-magic public zone, unable to return to the maze… that'd be worse.

She had no idea how long she'd be stuck here. She couldn't just wait it out forever.

Thinking back to the potion bottle fragment she'd lost to the entry fee last round, Rita made a trip to February Theme Park and grabbed 50 Attribute Blocks from Nivalis.

If the system wanted to keep charging her in game fragments, then fine—she'd stockpile more game fragments.

Back in the maze, she began discreetly dropping Attribute Blocks during fights.

Whenever she triggered [The Free Stuff Always Costs the Most.] and entered the weighing room, she'd pick a three-piece game item.

Swapping a map fragment for a three-piece cost several hundred gold. But Attribute Blocks? Just 50 to 100 gold.

A price she could easily afford.

12:45

No matter how hard she tried to delay it, [Wrathful Moon] returned.

["Wrathful Moon" has been unlocked.]

["Wrathful Moon" has been deployed.]

Rita had completely given up trying to appeal the situation.

If the game had any intention of letting her return the item, it would've done so already.

Still, she had to admit—she'd been given some kind of compensation.

Otherwise, both Divine Relics would've been unlocked and deployed the moment she discovered their identities.

Instead, the game had waited for the scheduled hourly unlock.

She canceled [There's a Cat Here], returned to the Ferris wheel in February Theme Park, and carefully re-secured the lantern and the helm.

She buried both Divine Relics deep inside her inventory: first wrapped in normal Blocks, then surrounded by owl and game-console fragments, and finally layered with smaller Blocks.

Only then did she return to March Theme Park's maze, using Teletubby as cover to once again become a cat.

13:00

Another entry fee, another loss—this time a [Plush Collar] fragment.

Snatched up by none other than Verdant Whisper · Windrush.

Rita barely had time to be annoyed.

Once [Owl Got Lost] came back, she shifted [Mysterious Power]'s seven-day cooldown onto a different SSS-level skill.

Time was ticking.

Even without using [No Logic], players were starting to doubt each other.

Verdant Whisper · Windrush drew the most suspicion—BS-Rita had accurately named both "Common Prosperity" and "Asset Transfer," two rewards from the game.

Other players who had received the same rewards stepped up to confirm their effects.

No one had yet found BS-Rita, but with hundreds of players fighting across the maze, even with her bizarre skills, some doubted she could've survived this long.

Data provided by skill-enabled players estimated that over 600 participants were currently inside the March maze.

With so many players clustered together—whether chasing [Cat's Ideal] or trying to exit via collected map fragments—battles were constant.

More than 70% of players had already died at least once.

And through it all, BS-Rita remained silent. No trash talk. No taunts. No messages.

No target for curses. No one to pin a tracker on.

While baiting the field, Rita was actually trying to bait out Verdant Whisper · Windrush.

If Windrush picked up a dropped Block, Rita could use that to reclaim the lost [Plush Collar].

But with the player count this high and the map so large, their paths never crossed.

Then—finally—luck turned.

After losing the potion fragment and the collar, Rita saw something in the weighing room:

[Where's the Owl Already]!

She was certain she hadn't seen this player in the Ferris wheel earlier.

Either they were disguised or had shuffled their Blocks.

In truth, without active inspection, players were nearly indistinguishable—unless they had something like Fiery Wings.

The moment she saw the owl fragment, Rita didn't hesitate.

She paid 170 attribute points and claimed a new owl fragment.

She didn't even inspect the updated owl.

Instead, she doubled back to try and identify the source.

With [Seen It All] hiding nameplates, she couldn't get their ID.

She tried using Chavez's Watch and [Master Angler] to scan—both failed.

All she could do was memorize their features and the color breakdown of their Blocks.

She didn't want to buy the remaining owl fragments with more points—not at that price.

Her plan was to wait until "Asset Transfer" wore off.

If she met that player again, she could trade a seven-piece fragment for the rest of the owl set—much cheaper.

If that didn't work out, she'd find a way to buy the rest off the market.